Week 7’s game between the Atlanta Falcons and Detroit Lions looked to be a high-scoring, last-team-with-the-ball-wins type of contest. These are two quick-strike, blink-and-they’ve-scored-twice offenses. With Matt Ryan and Roddy White on one side and Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson on the other, the scoreboard operator seemed certain to get a workout.

But when the game started, both offenses looked lost. It was not until Atlanta broke out its no-huddle offense that either team showed any spark. In the second drive using that scheme, Atlanta steamrolled 81 yards in seven plays for a touchdown, changing the game that the Falcons eventually won 23-16.

This was not the first time the Falcons used their no-huddle offense in a non no-huddle situation, and Atlanta is far from alone in using the scheme. Roughly half of the teams in the NFL have used the no-huddle in non no-huddle situations this season. Some teams use it rarely, but some use it in every or nearly every game. This is the latest wrinkle in the back and forth between offensive and defensive innovation.

“Whether it’s personnel variation, formation variation, up-tempo, spontaneous calls, change of cadence, there’s this ongoing battle between the offense and defense as to who’s creating not only confusion, but who’s handling that well,” New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton said. “Certainly we’ve seen more of it from a no-huddle point this year.”

College game influences NFL

While some coaches and players said the increase in the no-huddle offense is a trend that will eventually swing the other way, there is evidence to believe otherwise. Charles Davis, who analyzes the college and pro games on TV, says the no-huddle has blown up across the college game. The NFL usually picks up its trends from the college game because that’s where it gets its players. If more players are comfortable with the no-huddle offense when they get to the next level, NFL teams likely will continue to use it, if not use it more. “People are getting more and more comfortable with the no-huddle because it’s being used all the way down to the grade-school level,” Dallas Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said.

Some teams use the no-huddle to take advantage of their strengths—like the Lions exploiting the combination of Stafford, Johnson and tight end Brandon Pettigrew, who can line up at tight end or wide receiver. The no-huddle limits the defense’s substitutions, so Pettigrew often enjoys a mismatch.

Other teams run the no-huddle to hide their weaknesses, running plays quickly and using confusion to offset a talent disparity. That is more prevalent in the college game, but it happens in the NFL, too. Consider the Seattle Seahawks, a team lacking in offensive stars. In the first 14 quarters this season, Seattle ran a conventional offense and scored 37 points. For the next six quarters, the Seahawks offense huddled on fewer than 25 percent of its plays from scrimmage and scored 48 points.

Then there is the Indianapolis Colts. When Peyton Manning, who has missed every game this season with a neck injury, runs the no-huddle, Indy takes advantage of his unique ability to figure out what a defense is doing by looking at it and then calling the appropriate play. With Curtis Painter in for Manning, the team’s objective still is to control the tempo and limit defensive substitutions. But the Painter-led Colts have yet to win.

Says Cleveland Browns left tackle Joe Thomas: “It can be very effective, but it’s like any other offense. It depends on who is running it. It certainly can put pressure on a defense. But if you don’t have the people to make it effective, it can screw you up, too.”

Whatever the reason a team has for running the no-huddle offense, the intent is the same. The offense wants to tire out the defense, change the game’s tempo and put points on the board.

The Buffalo Bills’ “K-Gun” offense used the no-huddle exclusively in the early 1990s. The 2011 version of the team doesn’t use it full time, but Buffalo runs it more than most teams. The Bills have gone no-huddle on about 25 percent of their offensive snaps.

Most teams use it like the Bills—here and there, but not for long stretches. Too much of a good thing makes it a bad thing.

“What happens is, you spread them out, maybe you have an advantage for a little bit, and then they catch onto that,” St. Louis Rams offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said. “And then they do something. The last two years, the defenses have gotten crazy. All different fronts, guys walking around, moving, trying to disguise all the things that they’re doing. And then hopefully the offense is going to catch up to that.”

Can't just wing it

A team is more likely to use the no-huddle offense when coaches and players have been together for a few years. The Bengals and Browns both used it a lot last season, but not at all this season. Both have new coaches on offense, and the Bengals have a new quarterback.

Communication is very important, both verbal and otherwise. Quarterbacks and receivers who see the same things in defenses without having to talk about them are likely to excel in the no-huddle. When the Falcons run the no-huddle, Ryan gives directions to every player. He looks like a waiter taking orders at a big table, as he walks up and down the line and players lean in to hear him. Not every quarterback can do that.

The Green Bay Packers have run more no-huddle this season than usual. They used it in preseason games as a way to get more snaps to make up for the lockout and have kept running it in the regular season.

“We’re very fortunate, we have got players we think are smart guys, they’ve been around,” Packers offensive line coach Joe Philbin said. “We’ve had some continuity. They’ve been in the system for a while, so that lends itself maybe to be able to do some no-huddle to a certain degree. I don’t know that we’re going all-in.”

Few teams go all-in, for one obvious reason. When the no-huddle works, it works great. When it doesn’t, it’s a disaster, leading to turnovers, bad plays and three-and-outs, which hurts the defense because defenders get little time to rest.

“You’re seeing a lot of teams going no-huddle, hurry-up, making changes at the line of scrimmage. But huddles are very important because it brings everybody together,” Vikings quarterback Donovan McNabb said. “I love no-huddle, but I don’t mind getting into the huddle and looking into guys’ eyes and understanding that it could be their play.”

Many teams use the no-huddle to try to heat up a cold offense, like the Falcons did on Sunday.

“The no-huddle also gets you in a rhythm,” Raiders quarterback Jason Campbell said. “If you have a slow start and things aren’t going the way that you planned, the no-huddle is the way to go sometimes to get your quarterback, your running back and offense into a rhythm.”

The best offenses stay in that rhythm, whether they stay in the no-huddle or not. After that game-changing score against the Lions, the Falcons stopped using the no-huddle because they were leading and no longer needed it.

Such is the strange phenomenon of the no-huddle offense: The better a team is at it, the less it will use it. A team that piles up big points in the no-huddle eventually will return to a conventional offense to bleed the clock. Think of it this way: Teams use their no-huddle offense in unconventional times so that they don’t have to use their no-huddle offense in conventional times.